


Waiting

by sirenalley



Category: Free!
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-12-27
Updated: 2013-12-27
Packaged: 2018-01-06 09:30:33
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,896
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1105205
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sirenalley/pseuds/sirenalley
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>There are small remnants of Rin after he’s gone to Australia, reminders scattered through Haruka’s life in the most permanent way.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Waiting

**Author's Note:**

  * For [fencer_x](https://archiveofourown.org/users/fencer_x/gifts).



> For fencer-x, who wanted a symbol of marriage/commitment! I went with something pretty simple and extremely fluffy. I hope you like it and have a good holiday!

There are small remnants of Rin after he’s gone to Australia, reminders scattered through Haruka’s life in the most permanent way. 

A pair of swim goggles Rin let him borrow once, red and well-worn, Haruka took them home and forgot them in a basket in the bathroom. The strap is stretched from Rin’s snapping fingers, and they were a little loose for Haruka at the time, so he had to press and seal them over his eyes before he dove. 

A shirt Rin wore the one and only time he stayed the night, high quality fabric, pale yellow and warm. Haruka keeps it folded in a drawer and never wears it—it won’t fit him now, anyway.

A messy, scribbled portrait of a cherry blossom tree Rin drew in school. Art is not his strongest suit, but Haruka keeps the sketch tucked into his notebook because the color of the blossoms is the brightest pink he’s ever seen, and because Rin wrote _For Nanase Haruka_ at the bottom edge.

And something else—a silver ring too big for his fingers as a child. It’s the most precious piece of Rin he has left.

***

“Nanase, I have something for you,” Rin says when he approaches, skipping with eager energy. The relay is over, but the air is still magnetically charged with their victory.

“Where is everyone else?” Haruka’s voice is flat as he surveys the empty room.

“They already left. C’mon! I don’t want to do this here…” Although Haruka can’t tell for sure, he sounds shy. It’s unfamiliar from Rin. “It’ll just take a minute, okay?”

The sky is dim with evening, low light shining through the classroom windowpanes like golden streamers. After winning the relay, they came back with the rest of the club members and had a small celebration. Rin and Haruka both lingered after, the atmosphere heavy. It’s the last time he’ll see Rin before he goes to Australia, so he’s reluctant to go home. 

Once they’re outside, Rin takes him around the back to the courtyard. Their messages are written on the bricks with colorful significance. Haruka’s eyes find the pool like a magnet, its surface flat and glassy through the metal diamonds of the fence. 

Haruka’s arm is tugged again, and his head turns to look at Rin, questioning.

“Nanase, I wanted to tell you something… well…” Rin looks at the ground, his smile small. “It’s a little embarrassing.” 

Haruka’s brow crinkles with confusion. He says nothing.

“I know I’m leaving tomorrow for Australia… but I didn’t want to leave without saying anything first. Because this is important to me.” He lets go of Haruka’s arm, digging into his pocket. “I like you, Nanase. And… I wanted to give you this. So you would remember me.”

Haruka wants to say that’s stupid, because of course he’ll remember Rin, it’s not like he could forget the relay or anything that’s happened since Rin’s transfer, but then Rin uncurls his fingers and something flashes in the dying light. 

“… What?”

“It belonged to my dad.” Rin’s face is bright red as he tucks his chin down, reaching for Haruka’s hand. “This is what you do when you want to marry someone, right? You’re supposed to give them a ring.”

Haruka wants to argue against it for a number of reasons, but he doesn’t know what to say. His throat dries up. He looks down at the ring, takes it in his palm and tries to fit it onto one skinny finger. “… It’s too big.”

Rin grins, flustered, before he digs around in his pockets. “Yeah, I thought it might be, so I brought something else.” He surfaces a long red string and loops it through the silver hoop, tying the ends together into a tight bow. “Here.” Reaching out, he settles it around Haruka’s neck. “Don’t lose it. I’ll marry you when I get older.”

A thoughtful, embarrassed look crosses over Haruka’s face as he toys with the ring hanging over his shirt. He can’t stop touching it. “I didn’t get you anything though.” It comes out mumbled.

“That’s okay.” With giddy childlike swiftness, Rin kisses him. Their mouths come together for one warm moment in time, but it’s still enough to make Haruka’s world spin. Rin pulls back smiling. “When it fits on your finger, then we can get married. You can show me when I come back, so I’ll know you haven’t forgotten.”

Haruka’s hit with the dark sadness of Rin’s departure again, staring down at his toes. He clutches the ring hanging around his neck.

“It’s a promise, okay, Nanase?” Rin reaches out and squeezes his hand.

“… Okay.”

***

Haruka stores the necklace-ring in a small shoe box in his room for safekeeping, and for the first few weeks Rin is gone, he tries it on his finger every day. 

Then Rin comes home unexpectedly and Haruka faces him across the railroad tracks. There’s a flash of panic because he didn’t bring the ring with him, and even though he stopped checking obsessively, he knows it still won’t fit. 

Why didn’t Rin tell him he was coming back?

He’s different, Haruka realizes. Something is wrong and he doesn’t know what it is. All he knows is Rin is hurt when he loses—because of him, Rin cries. It’s the first time he’s ever seen it happen. It feels like he broke their promise.

Once he goes home, Haruka digs the ring out of its box and throws it across the room, feeling anguish settle inside of him. The next day, he digs the ring from a pile of clothes it had landed, puts it in the box with the goggles, sketch and shirt, then buries it in the back of his closet. 

***

After everything happens, after they win the relay and are disqualified for it, Rin comes back to them. It’s still a slow process. They don’t see each other much beyond scheduled joint practices between Samezuka and Iwatobi, as well as the occasional get together (organized most often by Gou and Nagisa), but it’s leaps and bounds better than before.

Although Haruka wants him back in his life, he knows there’s only so much he should ask of Rin. They can’t fall back on old memories. Rin is not the same person he was then, and neither is Haruka. 

And knowing that… hurts a bit.

At the end of another practice, Haru collects his things, pulling his clothes over his jammers with the intention to bathe properly at home. He’s out the door before everyone else. Since practice was held at Iwatobi today, he doesn’t need to wait in order to go to the train station together, which is convenient. For some reason, Haruka doesn’t feel like talking or interacting with the others. He wants a quick, clean escape. 

When he reaches the street alongside the ocean, he hears a voice that arrests him.

Rin catches up, out of breath from sprinting, a strange look on his face. Haruka can’t tell what it means.

“Haru—I didn’t think you were going home right away,” Rin explains, shaking his head as he straightens up. His expression tightens and he looks more focused. And something else. Is it anxiety? Shyness? “You’re usually the last one out of the pool.”

“I got tired,” Haruka says, coming up with no other excuse. 

Rin’s head turns, and he seems awkward. “I’ll walk you home, then.”

“… Okay.” He’s suspicious, but he suppresses it. Rin’s behavior has changed since their rekindled friendship. It’s better than silence and distance, but now it only disorients Haruka. 

They walk, saying very little, although he catches Rin’s furtive sideways glances every now and then. Once they reach the house, Haruka leaves his shoes at the door and makes a beeline for the bath. It’s his usual routine, so he doesn’t pay much attention to Rin lingering in his wake. He’s halfway down the hall when he turns to see Rin hovering in the doorway like he’s not sure what to do with himself. Before Haruka can stop himself, his voice comes out.

“Rin.” It draws Rin’s attention and he looks at him warily. “I want to give you something. Wait for me.”

Rin’s eyes widen, but he nods.

Haruka takes his time with the bath, soaking until the chlorine is no longer thick and bunched in his hair. When he climbs out, he dresses slowly before heading downstairs to find Rin. But not before he stops at his room.

He finds Rin seated on his porch, bent slightly forward to pet the ears of one of the stray cats in the area. Haruka takes a moment just to watch—he’s never seen Rin like this before. His affection is subtle, but still there, and his face is soft.

When he approaches, Rin snaps straight and whips around. “Took you long enough. I thought you drowned.”

“Here,” Haruka says simply and holds out the box. “You gave me these.”

Rin glances up at him with uncertainty and gently eases the lid off as he sits down. He balances the box on his thighs and pulls out the sketch, unfolding it, and then… he laughs. “I forgot about this. I really sucked at drawing, huh? You’re way better than me.”

Haruka is quiet. The goggles are next, and now Rin is smiling as he tries to put them over his head, but they’re far too small even with the stretched strap. The shirt is next. His expression is childlike.

“You didn’t have to give all this stuff back,” he laughs again breathily. “What am I supposed to do with it?”

“There’s something else.” Haruka points down at the box. Tucked into the corner is a bundle of red string… and a silver ring. Rin’s face changes from shock to something much softer, crumbling, his defenses gone. “Don’t cry,” Haruka blurts unthinking. 

“I’m _not_ crying.” Rin snaps back while delicately lifting the ring, turning it over in his fingers. His tone turns dreamy and reminiscent. “Remember what I said when I gave you this?”

“Yeah. You said to wait until it fits and then you’d marry me.”

Rin’s entire face colors. “You’re way too blunt, Haru. I can’t believe you can say that with a straight face.”

“It’s because I’ve been waiting.”

Rin looks up at him through his lashes, timidity not unlike the first time Haruka was given the ring, and then he holds it up, rolling it between his fingertips. He says quietly, “Let me see your hand.”

Feeling a nervous thrill in his stomach, Haruka lifts his hand up and Rin slides the ring onto his finger. They both stare, and then Rin laughs. “… Still too big? Jeez. Your fingers are too skinny, Haru.”

Haruka can’t help the look of disappointment on his face. He slides the ring off and puts it on his thumb. “It fits here.”

“That’s not where it’s supposed to go, Haru.”

“Then we’ll keep waiting,” Haruka declares. “I don’t mind.”

 _Or we can just get another ring_ , he thinks to himself, but he doesn’t say that because the look of sheer happiness and pleasure on Rin’s face is worth it. Matsuoka Rin is too romantic for his own good. 

“Fine. I’m still planning to marry you. Got that?”

“Got it.” Haruka shares a private smile, leans across, and kisses Rin—quick and warm and full of promise.


End file.
